The Health Care Crisis

In spite of countless health care reform efforts over many decades, uneven quality, frequent errors, and high and rising costs continue to plague the U.S. and countries around the globe. The status quo is untenable, and everyone—providers, health plans, employers, governments, and most of all, patients—will suffer if we fail to fundamentally change our approach.

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High & Rising Costs

Figure #1

Figure #1

High & Rising Costs

4%

Average annual real growth in per capita health spending across OECD nations, 2000-2009.

Healthcare spending accounts for

17.6%

of GDP in U.S.

Uneven Quality & Frequent Errors

Figure #2

Figure #2

Uneven Quality & Frequent Errors

12-fold

Variation in postoperative sepsis rates across the 34 OECD nations.

40-fold

Variation in charges for a hip replacement at U.S. hospitals

Uneven Quality & Frequent Errors

Figure #3

Figure #3

Uneven Quality & Frequent Errors

1 in 10

in European hospitals suffers from preventable harm and adverse events related to care (2000 report, Hospitals for Europe)

The Solution: Improving Value For Patients

Solving our health care crisis begins with getting all stakeholders to agree on a single overarching goal: improving the quality of care delivered for each dollar spent. Competition has failed in health care for the simple reason that it is based upon entirely wrong metrics. We must reorient health care around value for patients, rather than current drivers like geography or the discounts negotiated by insurers. Only then can we create a system that delivers sustained improvements in quality and efficiency.

Health Care Delivery Courses

The Harvard Business School offers a variety of classes that teach how to actually implement the principles of value-based health care delivery in practice. See the curriculum: 2015_05_26_MAH_Curriculum_Overview.pdf

“The fundamental goal of economic policy is to enhance competitiveness, which is reflected in the productivity with which a nation or region utilizes its people, capital, and natural endowments to produce valuable goods and services.”